[BN] the know

Wine: Best vintages for gift-giving

Wine is almost always a welcome gift at holiday time. Even if the giftee isn’t a partaker, he or she can always serve it to guests or — one suspects — regift it to someone who will appreciate it.

There are a couple of things to consider in giving wine.

The first is price. In a perfect world, giving a really excellent wine would be the only criterion. But the world isn’t perfect.

So first you have to consider the appropriate price range, then look for the best wine in it.

Give your boss a $5 wine and you might stall your career.

Give her or him a too-expensive wine, and there may seem no reason to give you a raise in 2013. So choose appropriately.

Second, we’re getting closer to the time when one can give a screw-cap wine as a gift.

Some of the finest sauvignon blancs from New Zealand come that way. Even Napa’s 2009 Cade Estate Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon comes in a screw cap, in a $300 boxed set with a regular corked bottle.

Still, screw cap gift wines even today probably must be limited to giftees who will understand their value, and not think you a piker.

Anyway, here are some holiday wine gift suggestions in various price ranges.